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Canon EOS600D, ISO400, 1/200th, f6.3, 46.0mm, off camera EX430II flash @ 1/6th power, radio triggered via a shoot-through brolly.
I probably should have been working.....but the wind was keeping the mosquitoes at bay, so the dogs and I headed off to get some photos of prairie wildflowers. Two hours and over 600 photos later.........
The dogs would probably have preferred to have gone to the river, but they found some deer poop, some long-lost toys and other such things to keep them amused.
Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-800 departing Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport bound for Chicago Midway on a clear day
It was late, and Maurice knew that if he didn’t get to sleep soon, the morning would come and he would not have enough energy to work in Santa’s Workshop. He climbed his way up the stairs to the attic bedroom with Bentley in his arms, hugging him tightly as he went. “I’m so glad that engineer brought you to me,” he whispered. He didn’t want any of the other elves to hear him. They were too busy making a mess in the kitchen, so he was able to make his way up without being noticed.
The noise in the kitchen, however, was too loud! He could still hear them drop things onto the floor. “I do hope it will be easy for them to clean up their mess,” he sighed as he drifted off to sleep.
But then a loud crash woke him!
When the 436 was withdrawn between Woking and Guildford, from 22nd October 2006, the way it served Woking town centre was changed into a loop: arriving from Sheerwater via Maybury Road, then terminating in the bus stand in The Broadway along from the rail station. Then, starting again to the station stops on The Broadway, under the canopy, down the High Street, Cawsey Way, Victoria Way, doubling back via Chertsey Road, Stanley Road and then via Walton Road back to Sheerwater.
When this started, the canopy was actually being built, so all buses were having to go the long way round and using The Broadway bus stand, turning via Locke Way. A shuttle service was run to take people around to Cawsey Way.
The problem with the loop arrangement is that the arriving bus dumps passengers at the far edge of the town centre, leaving everyone to walk to where they need to get to.
That's fine if you're able bodied, but not if you're not.
When the 446 was withdrawn from Morrisons, to improve reliability, after October 12th 2012, it was changed to follow the 436's arrangement.
Some pensioners try and stay on the bus for the return leg to reach Cawsey Way, but this isn't technically allowed.
Here, Abellio Surrey 8086 (KV03 ZFM) had just arrived, and the driver is kicking two pensioners off the bus.
It took them five minutes to get from the bus stand to stop 2, where they stopped to have a rest. The same bus then drove past them on its return 446 trip.
This was the penultimate day of the 446 running half hourly. Various attempts to get it to run reliably (including withdrawing it from Morrisons, as above) never worked (it really needed an extra bus in the cycle), so as part of Abellio Surrey's network review from 5th April 2014, it was cut to hourly.
To maintain a half hourly Abellio service through Sheerwater, route 459 was withdrawn from Six Crossroads, Shores Road and Kettlewell Hill (replaced by new two hourly, off-peak, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays only route 592) and diverted via Sheerwater instead. It was also withdrawn from Morrisons, and now takes the same loop route as the 436 and 446 in the town centre - another route added to the list.
Current plans for the development of 'Victoria Square' involve the High Street being made one way westbound, so every bus route serving the town will have to follow the same arrangement.
Apart from the obvious problems of not serving the shops and accessibility for the infirm, some routes (e.g. the 437) won't actually have enough time in the schedule to go the long way around.
The Broadway, Woking, Surrey.
Amongst the sea of old MH items, there was one case put out this morning apparently with the 2.0s. Spectra was flaw free and came home and I think I'm leaning towards keeping her. IDK.....
Mi fregio
di piccole vittorie
sui figli minori
di questi demoni incolori.
e
attendo.
www.fileden.com/getfile.php?file_path=http://www.fileden....
For the daily challenge....."Pointed"
Looks good on black.
One tiny little water drop off the point of an orchid petal. I was surprised how clear I was able to get it. Obviously not as pinsharp as with a true macro, but for a little attachment lens for the iPhone, I think it did amazingly well.
Inspired by a UK-based cookery show, the Great British Vape Off is a four-eJuice line of baked dessert flavour blends. visit: goo.gl/j1R4cv
I'll be heading off to Egypt for our belated Honeymoon...so we'll be going from snow to sand for a while. Hopefully I'll have some good shots when I get back!
Note: John faced some cancer in 2015. Sondra is his wife...
How tardy and bizarrely uncharacteristic of me to "come up short" Carol, on the genealogical history of the deceased equine entity called Tony.
Actually the initial send had more text....in my whimpering inadequacies.... I encountered a road block that was insurmountable for my chemo-laced brain.....I cried until Sondra came to my mewling puddle of shameful "masculine-tech" whining on the floor.....she tried to solve the dilemma .....and had "lift-off" for only a portion of the rocket.....basically it was a cluster fuck, a message that was intended for one planet.....but the message splintered,........you received some of the text, and some of it will arrive on Saturn's second inner ring, around 2525. The video that I tried to include with the text....imploded, folding in-ward unto itself.....consuming its life and frames until it resembled a tiny black jube-jube lying on the sidewalk.........not even the slugs were interested.
Tony was 22 when he died.....born in Saskatchewan......had papers.....not the kind of papers that illegal refugees have....but papers that proved he was pure Percheron. Tony was and is the only papered horse we have ever owned. Both his parents....sire and brood mare were registered Percheron. Percheron is a French heavy horse breed.....that basically opened the west, plowed the soil and pulled the goods.
In my world, being papered and registered means nothing....what does matter .......do I like what I see. And with Tony ....it was all good.
I'n John R's world of horses, registered and papered has meaning.
Sondra and I bought Tony along with another horse named Spider.....they were a team.....had worked as a team, pulling wagons and sleighs and also as a logging team for a teamster/logger/farmer/truck-driver from the 100 Mile House area of BC's Caribou region. Spider was a giant of a horse, also Percheron, not registered and not papered. Spider weighted about a ton, Tony was around 1800 lbs......
Spider was tall, quite a bit taller than Tony, so they looked a bit mis-matched....both horses were black as coal..........Tony had one white sock, rear right, if you are looking up the dirt chute........and both had their tails docked.... I'm not a fan of docked tails, but that's the way they came.
The year was 2004, when we heard about these boys being available.....we already had a team.....two wonderful Belgian/Percheron crosses, both unpapered and un-registered, that were named Pat and Mike, that we bought in 1999.
We were thinking of easing up on using Pat and Mike, as we were logging quite a bit. We wanted a younger team.....and Tony and Spider were around 10 ......a little side bar to horse trading.....a horse trader if he's trying to sell a horse , when confronted with the question .....
"so, how old is this horse"......will almost always tell you, he's 9. (old enough to know better but young enough to be strong and eager)(keep that in mind Carol, when it comes time to trade the old boy in)
To really know how old a horse is.....you look at his teeth, and if you know how to read the markings on their teeth, you can come to within a year or two. Many a 9 year old has turned out to be 17 or even older.
Sondra and I heard about the big blacks being for sale.....made some time to come up from the farm to have a look.
Always an adventure....searching out horses.
So up to the 100 Mile House area.....it was early summer....this area, high in elevation, excels in showing its beauty during the summer. It's sparsely populated.....a few small towns dot the region, to offer commerce and alcohol......the area is home to ranches, lots of large acreages, raising and growing beef..... As well as the ubiquitous logging industry.......give us some trees to exploit.
It's a gorgeous part of the province Carol, a high plateau, spotted with numerous lakes, expansive lodge pole pine forests, and these old, well worn ranch settlements.
It was one of these ranches that Tony and Spider were residing ......log house, log out-buildings, log fences, log barn.........right on the edge of a good sized lake.
Tom the owner was ready for us when we arrived....horses were at the hitching rail....harnessed and ready to perform.
But you never jump right into the task at hand .....you have to have the BC chats first.....sort of like kicking the tires when you are looking to buy a "new to you" truck......so the three of us are walking around the horses, hands running over their bodies, asking questions that don't always pertain to horses, "do you know such and such, he has a logging team near Princeton"......." where did these boys come from"...."when did you last use them"....."any problems"....."how are their feet"........"do these boys come with the harness"..... "how long have you lived up here"......."no kidding, I know Ted Guisbrech, we logged together over near Rock Creek".........and so on.
Then .....you ask if it would be ok to see them walk around.........he may say sure, take the lines, or he may say....sure, let me walk them first and then you can have a go.
All this seemingly unimportant prater......registers...it is all telling us about his relationship with his horses.....does he want to make sure the horses are calmed down when it comes time for us to drive them, .......does he think they might be a bit spooky if we take the lines.....is he setting the standard by showing us how he handles them.....all part of the game.
I want him to walk the horses around, to see what kind of relationship he has with them.....how he holds the lines ......where he stands.....how he gets them to move, does he "kiss them up", or "click" them up .....(two very distinct sounds in the horse world)....or does he remain silent, and communicate through the lines.....do they move on their own, when he grabs the lines......does he say their names to get them to move.......does he hold the lines....firm.......loosely.....does he slap the horses rears with the lines to get them to walk.....all of this shows me how this guy gets along with his horses.....gentle, coarsely, frantic, lazy, attentive, casual, ....and this gives me some incite into what we might be buying.
It's such a dance.....you want it to fall into place....you've invested 6 hours of travel one way......you like the initial viewing.....you need a team .....you want it to work. The foot work, the rhythm, the music, the touch, all these "things" need to be right for the dance to feel good...the flow....and eventually the coupling.
Where was I. .....oh yea.... Tom is walking the boys around, they have their harness on, the harness is well worn, with some minor binder-twine fix-it's......binder-twine....the non-natural material they use to tie bales of hay with.....it is ubiquitous with the horse world.....binder-twine is the rural duct-tape....you use it everywhere to tie down, to tie up, to keep apart, to shorten and to lengthen, you use it for clothes lines, and dog leashes, you use it to mark the planting lines for lettuce and carrots.....It almost always comes in the colour orange.....but now they have introduced the colour blue. It the very old days they used wire to wrap bales.
Tom walks the boys around the corral.....whoa-ing them up then asking them to step up(move ahead).....making them "gee" and "haw".....right and left......I watch how his hands work the lines.....lightly.....aggressively.....does he verbally communicate or is it all done with touch (pressure with the lines)......so the lines are long strips of leather or polypropylene that are attached to the bridle, a sort of head set that has the bit, the metal bar that is inserted to the horses mouth, attached to......so every time you pull on the lines it activates the bit......in a good or bad way.....gentle with the lines equates to gentle with the bit......aggressive with the lines, equates to harsh rough bit movement..........I'm certain Carol you've experienced this with the Hun. To get his attention (his noodle buried in a Conan movie) you sometimes have to jerk his bit.
So what you want to see as a perspective buyer, is the owner driving the horses around in a calm atmosphere.....no rodeos.....using "soft" hands........you want the horses displaying a zen.......a zone where they are willing to do what you ask of them.
Think Pointer Sisters......."I want a man with a slow hand....I Want a lover with an easy touch. I want a lover who will take some time. Not come and go in a heated rush"
Now that's what makes a perfect teamster.......Sondra points out that in the equine world, every teamster thinks he has soft hands. Phew, was that air leaving my body!
Then we attach the horses to the double-tree......sometimes made from hard wood and now usually made from metal.....this is the devise that is attached to two big leather straps that are attached to the horses harness.....these straps are called tugs....and then the double tree is attached to the device you want the horses to pull....ie. a wagon, a sleigh, a rake, a mower, or for our purposes a log. The double tree drags on the ground, so sometimes does not drag smoothly, as it gets caught up on debris , small babies, stumps, empty beer cases, that sort of thing......logging horses get acclimatized to this irregular pull and constant clanging, and are not spooked by the sound or pull.....uninitiated horses go ballistic....as they can never run away from the ragged feel, and the scary sound.
Tony and Spider were great.....and after numerous manoeuvres and requests.....lots of backing up, going forward.....asking them to take one step forward and whoa......asking them to stand while putting the lines on the ground......some horses will creep forward....
hooking them up to a big log and pulling it around.....doing the same tasks that we asked of them without the log..... we put them back to the hitching rail......removed their harness.
I ask Tom how "they load"......how easily do they go in a trailer.....a very important feature.....especially for people who move their horses around....like horse loggers.....always going to different sites.......some horses react to trailers like a 9 year old boy going to the dentist.....it can be hell.....and I've participated in many "rodeos" trying to get unwilling horses in a trailer. Both hard on the horse and the handler. Feet stepped on, smashed around by hyper animals, and that's before you get them in the trailer..... Securing them in the trailer is even more ramped up in terms of activity. So having calm, easy going horses to load...can be the deal sealer or breaker.Tom assures me that they "load easy"
We let the horses cool down......and then I picked up every foot......you want a cooperative horse when trimming hooves.....looked in their mouths to check teeth......hands feeling all over their bodies.....feeling and looking for bumps, irregularities, sores.....seeing how the harness fits them, any rubs, buckle wear, .......you try and do a full inspection..........just like the 50 point checkup that your Audi receives every 6 months.
For me it's all fun.....a chance to visit with another teamster.....to check out his stock....see new country.... hear some new lies and stories.
All the while the test drive and chit-chat is happening, Sondra and I are communicating about what we think about the team.....likes and dislikes....this is all done without talking....it's done with eyes, eye brows, facial wrinkles, nostril flares, smiles, hands, and head nods.....we don't want to diss the owner about the abilities of his team, or challenge anything he says about them.....we just register silently the good and bad......we didn't drive 6 hours to tell someone they have a badly mannered team of horses. It's a sort of rural respect and politeness that seems to prevail in rural Canada.
More generalized talk takes place....we find out more about his place.....some of the jobs he did with the team.....his daughter comes out of the house and jumps up on a saddle horse and rides around.....learn that he's bought a truck and car wash in 100 Mile House.....very entrepreneurial ...... He wanders off to feed some animals.... And Sondra and I kick a few horse buns around and decide yes, we want the team......
The negotiations are straight forward....we pay $4000....
In most horse transactions you buy the horse and the seller provides you with a halter and a lead rope......usually the most worn out and manure stained ones he can find in the tack shed.....often repaired with binder-twine, that use to be orange.
We manage, through friendly haggling, to get the harness, a double tree, and some pieces of harness "thrown in" with the 4 grand. We are happy with the deal, he's happy with the deal.
He agrees to feed the horses for a week, and Sondra and I will return the following weekend with our horse trailer, pick them up and bring them to Trinity Valley.
This adventure was wonderful.....a great way to start a new relationship with a new team......we were anxious to play with them, learn more about them.......and see what they could do.
The boys turned out to be all we wished for.....great addition to our already mature and well behaved team of Pat and Mike.....
Spider as he got older developed a rear hip malfunction.....that eventually made it very difficult for him to get up, after he would lie down for a rest and or a roll. At the end I was having to lift him up with the tractor....too complicated to describe, believe me it was as hard on me as it was on Spider.....Spider learned not to lie down too much .....and when he did, he'd try to position himself strategically on a slope so when it was time for lift-off, gravity would help. One time Spider lay down in his corral....winter time....in a hollow and couldn't rise up......thrashed around for awhile, making his bed a skating rink....total ice, caused by his body heat, ..... and even more difficult for him......finally as darkness was settling in I managed to get him up......this was becoming a problem.
In spring time I had a chat with the big boy......I was tiring of the effort it took to get him back up on all "four"...... Eventually the time came and he had his final lie-down.......
After Spider died, Tony was confused and then sad.....no more mate.....these horses when they are teamed up.....often act as one......they eat side by side, they rest side by side......when one heads off in a direction, the other one will follow......when one decides to let it all out and race around the field, full throttle, the other one copies. They are often joined at the hip. So Tony was bummed when Spider passed on, ........and he got little sympathy from the other team......at this point on the calendar, our original team of Pat and Mike, had both died, and we had bought another team, Jackie and Star, younger than both Spider and Tony, and this new team became our "go to team".
Jackie and Star, also Percheron's, also black, but with un-cropped tails, dragging on the ground, beautiful, true warriors......Don Monjoy was so proud of us for staying black, and staying Perch......this team was young, bold, frisky, and dominating. So Tony went to the bottom of the pecking order, and just wasn't too sure where he fit in. Sondra and I continued to show love and attention his way.....and Sondra would harness him and drive him around, but we always felt he was somewhat confused.......and missing his mate. But through that wondering, he was always a treat to be around.....he was extremely handsome.....very curious.....enormously smart.........and we always said he had a great ass.... And we will miss him.
Well now he can rejoin Spider......they can be a team again.
An F-5N Tiger II takes off on a training exercise aboard Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, Jan. 26. Marine Fighter Training Squadron 401 worked with Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron One to conduct the Marine Division Tactics Course at the air station. VMFT-401 provided the adversary air while the MAWTS-1 instructor pilots taught and evaluated MCAS Beaufort F/A-18 pilots during the course. The pilot is an instructor pilot with VMFT-401. Both VMFT-401 and MAWTS-1 are stationed aboard MCAS Yuma, Ariz.
Shannon's 1st time at off leash to meet new friends.
Canonet QL19
Fomapan 400
Kodak D-76, 1:1, 12 minutes, 20°C/68°F
Epson V550
Deliriously happy.
First, we're ditching our parents for three weeks of freedom and second, we're returning to England - we'd been gone almost eight years.
1972, Ruth and I had saved our money (mostly babysitting) and bought cheap student plane tickets and a BritRail Pass. We're seniors in High School but I was at a hippie school where I was told to "check out the women's movement in England" Ruth went to a regular school - I forget what she was supposed to do to "justify" 3 weeks off.
Our parents - not really the kind to worry (we're seventeen with no idea what we'll do for three weeks when we get over there except for a few nights at relatives) - sent us off in high spirits - lots of jokes and cracking each other up - general hilarity at the depot. In contrast, the American girl that went with us was saying an emotional goodbye to her mom who was also teary and worried.
The really funny thing about this was that that reaction was so foreign to us I can remember saying in disbelief "Wait, you're not crying are you?" not to be mean but just amazed!
Remember this, Ruth?
having hurled ourselves from Worcester Bridge into the River Severn, circa 1975 (the 3 Petes/Faryar at the back).
EMU50 and EMU73 face off, the difference in ends shows the single cab EMU sets ( left ) and 2 cab EMU sets ( right ) at Dakabin
"I don't use my days off like anyone else would. I use them to go and visit the forsaken civilization we called 'home'. I look to understand why It is in ruins. But no matter what, I always find that it is because man is flawed."
A nice pic at the burned house. This is one of my favs.
On the 4th of July we left Pahaska Teepe at 5:30 am and headed for Cody Wyoming. We really wanted to see the Buffalo Bill Mueseum and then we watched a bit of the parade. Then off up over Beartooth Highway, called the most beautiful highway in America, over the pass at 10,947 feet over hairpin curves, U-curves, and S-curves and every other kind of way to switch a road back on itself. At Red Lodge we had lunch and then zipped along I-90 to Ovando.
Google Maps won't give you directions for this route, I used the Pedometer instead.
60009 Union of South Africa backs off the refurbished turntable at The Ferryhill Railway Heritage Trust on Wed 1st May 2019 after being turned before returning to haul The Great Britain railtour back to Edinburgh.
Although this was a Haymarket (64B) based engine for most of its working career it mainly did the Edinburgh & Glasgow - Aberdeen runs so would be serviced at the old Ferryhill MPD previously on this site. So it has been turned on this table many times!
It does it all again with an SRPS Railtour from Linlithgow to Aberdeen on Sunday 5th May.